Tag: Wimbledon

Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini to win the Wimbledon women’s title on Saturday for her second Grand Slam singles triumph.

Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to add the 2024 All England Club crown to her 2021 French Open victory.

Her win comes 26 years after her mentor Jana Novotna, who died iof cancer in 2017, claimed the Wimbledon title.

“Before she passed away, she told me to go and win a Slam. I did that in Paris in 2021 but I never dreamed of winning the same trophy that Jana did,” said the 28-year-old Krejcikova, who secured the title in a nervy final service game on a third championship point.

“It’s unreal what just happened. The best day of my tennis career and the best day of my life.

“I was just telling myself to be brave. It was such a difficult match, a great final, a great competition and I’m super happy to be standing here enjoying this moment.”

Barbora Krejcikova, who will return to the top 10 following her victory, came into Wimbledon after a testing season.

A back injury and illness meant she went winless on the tour from February until June.

“I was injured and ill and didn’t have a good start to the season and now I’m Wimbledon winner. How did that happen?”

“I think nobody’s going to believe I won Wimbledon. I still can’t believe it. Two weeks ago (first round) I had a very tough match, 7-5 in the third set and I wasn’t in good shape.”

The result means seventh-seeded Paolini has lost two Grand Slam finals back-to-back after coming off second best to Iga Swiatek at the French Open last month.

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“I’m a little bit sad but I try to keep smiling. I have to remember today is still a good day,” said Paolini, who had never won a grass-court match in her career until last month.

“I remember watching Wimbledon as a kid cheering for Roger Federer, so to be here now is crazy. It’s been a beautiful two weeks.”

She added: “Barbora, you played unbelievable. You play such beautiful tennis. Congrats to you and your team.”

Barbora Krejcikova set the tone at the start of the match by breaking the Italian in the opening game and backing up the advantage with a hold to love.

Paolini, the first Italian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final, had to save two break points in the third game but she cracked under the strain again as the composed Czech stormed into a double-break ahead for 4-1.

Krejcikova moved to three set points in the eighth game and only needed one as Paolini dumped a backhand return into the net.

The nerve-wracked Italian managed to claim just four points on the Czech’s serve in the 35-minute opener. Krejcikova hit 10 winners to the Italian’s five.

Paolini dashed off Centre Court for a bathroom break and returned re-energised.

She had also dropped the first set in her marathon semi-final triumph over Donna Vekic and on Saturday she launched another second set fightback.

Breaks in the second and eighth games levelled the final after a set in which Krejcikova made 14 unforced errors to seven for her opponent, taking her double-fault count to a tournament-high of 33.

The Czech managed just four winners in the set as she went spectacularly off the boil.

However, momentum shifted dramatically back in her favour in the decider when Paolini double-faulted to surrender a break and fall 3-4 behind.

Barbora Krejcikova held to love for 5-3 but endured a nervy conclusion, requiring three championship points and saving two break points in the 10th game to seal the title.

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Novak Djokovic swept past Lorenzo Musetti on Friday to book a second successive Wimbledon final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and move one win away from a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title.

Just five weeks after undergoing knee surgery, seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic reached his 10th final at the All England Club with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over the Italian 25th seed.

Alcaraz earlier defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to reach a fourth Grand Slam final.

Novak Djokovic, 37, can equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and become the tournament’s oldest champion of the modern era if he avenges last year’s dramatic five-set final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.

The last time Novak Djokovic and Musetti met was at the French Open in June when the Serb claimed victory in a third-round tie which ended at 3:07 in the morning.

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On Friday, however, Djokovic was untroubled on his way to a 37th Grand Slam final.

He broke for 4-2 lead in the opener and, despite surrendering the advantage and letting two set points slip in the ninth game, he broke again in the 10th to claim the set.

The second seed was playing in his 49th Grand Slam semi-final while the 22-year-old Musetti was in his first.

That experience was key as Djokovic hit back from losing serve in the opening game of the second set to level in the sixth before dominating the tie-break.

A break in the opening game of the third set launched him on his way to victory against a demoralised Musetti, who at least had the consolation of saving three match points before Novak Djokovic completed his progress to yet another Wimbledon final.

READ: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz into Wimbledon final

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached his fourth Grand Slam final at Wimbledon on Friday when he recovered from a set down to defeat Daniil Medvedev.

World number three Alcaraz beat his fifth-ranked opponent 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and will face either seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti for the title on Sunday.

Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the 2023 final in a five-set thriller.

“Obviously it will be a really difficult match. Let’s see who I am going to play on Sunday,” said Alcaraz who crunched 55 winners to the 31 from Medvedev.

“I feel like I am not new anymore. I know how I am going to feel before the final. I have been in this position before.”

He added: “I started really nervous today. Daniil was dominating the match, playing great tennis. It was difficult for me.”

Twice Daniil Medvedev, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz at the same stage last year, led with breaks in the first set only to be pinned back.

Such was his frustration that he was handed a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct by umpire Eva Asderaki for an apparent foul-mouthed reaction to a ball called for bouncing twice as he was broken in the ninth game.

The tournament referee and supervisor were even summoned to Centre Court by Asderaki, but Medvedev shrugged off the incident to sweep through the tie-break and take the opening set in which he committed only eight unforced errors to the Spaniard’s 15.

It was the third time at this year’s Wimbledon that Alcaraz had dropped the first set.

Alcaraz recovered impressively, breaking Medvedev for a 3-1 lead in the second, having come out on top in the previous game on the back of a 27-shot rally.

The 21-year-old then hit 14 winners in the third set, pocketing the only break in the third game.

Medvedev, who had knocked out world number one Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, retrieved a break early in the fourth set.

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But Carlos Alcaraz kept up his assault, edging ahead again for 4-3 on his way to victory.

Novak Djokovic has equalled Roger Federer’s mark by reaching a 13th Wimbledon semi-final and is two wins from matching the Swiss star’s record of eight singles titles at the All England Club.

Victory on Friday would take him to a 10th final at the tournament and 37th at the Slams.

At 37, Djokovic could also become the oldest Wimbledon champion of the modern era, an impressive achievement for a man who underwent knee surgery as recently as last month.

This season he has lost his Australian Open and French Open titles and has yet to make a final on tour.

He was handed a free pass into Friday’s last-four when Alex de Minaur withdrew from their scheduled quarter-final with a hip injury.

The Serb has been in feisty mood at Wimbledon accusing fans of disrespecting him in his last-16 win over Holger Rune.

“If somebody steps over the line, I react,” he said.

Djokovic has a 5-1 winning record over Musetti, including a come-from-behind five-set victory at the French Open last month.

That third-round match set the record for the latest finish at Roland Garros, with Djokovic completing victory at 3:07 in the morning.

Musetti, 22, also took Djokovic the distance in their first meeting at Roland Garros in 2021, when the Italian won the opening two sets of their last-16 tie before injury scuppered his hopes in the decider.

“He’s a legend, especially here at Wimbledon,” said Musetti ahead of his debut on Centre Court, where he was allowed to practice on Friday morning.

If Musetti reaches the final, it will be the first time in history that Italian players have reached the men’s and women’s singles finals at a Grand Slam in the same year.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini will play the women’s final against Czech 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday.

READ: Lorenzo Musetti sets up Wimbledon semi-final duel with Djokovic

Czech 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final after battling back for a shock 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over former champion Elena Rybakina on Thursday.

Just hours after Paolini beat tearful Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) in the longest women’s semi-final at the All England Club, it was Barbora Krejcikova’s turn to dig deep for victory against fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina in two hours and seven minutes on Centre Court.

Barbora Krejcikova faces seventh seed Jasmine Paolini on Saturday in what will be the second Grand Slam final of the 28-year-old’s career after her French Open triumph in 2021.

“I’m so proud about my game and my fighting spirit today,” said Krejcikova.

The Czech started 2024 with a run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, but a first round exit at the French Open was a major setback.

She struggled with a back injury and illness, winning just three singles matches in the five months before finally finding her form in remarkable style at Wimbledon.

Krejcikova shocked 11th seed Danielle Collins in the fourth round and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals, before turning her sights on Rybakina.

The two-time Wimbledon doubles champion is now one win away from an unexpected triumph in the singles.

“Unbelievable. It is very tough to explain, but a lot of joy and a lot of emotions,” Krejcikova said.

“When I broke her in the second set, I started to be in the zone and I didn’t want to leave the zone.”

Rybakina had been in formidable form, dropping just one set as she extended her impressive All England Club record to 19 wins from 21 matches.

The 25-year-old, who won Wimbledon in 2022, made a fast start with two quick breaks for an early 4-0 lead in a one-sided first set against Krejcikova.

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In her first Wimbledon semi-final, Krejcikova turned the tide in the second set, landing a priceless break in the sixth game.

She levelled the match on her sixth set point, making it the first time in 20 years that both Wimbledon women’s semi-finals had gone to the final set.

The Czech held all the momentum and she eventually wore down Rybakina, who had committed over 35 unforced errors by the time she surrendered her serve in the decisive, seventh game of the final set.

Paolini had never won a main draw match at Wimbledon before this year, but the world number seven tenaciously saw off Vekic in two hours and 51 minutes to secure a second successive Grand Slam final appearance.

The 28-year-old, who lost the French Open final to Iga Swiatek last month, is the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final.

Paolini, who also made the Australia Open last 16 in January, had not gone past the second round in any Slam before this year.

Without a win at the All England Club heading into the tournament, Paolini now has six victories under her belt and has dropped just two sets in the process.

“The last months have been crazy for me. It is a dream. I was watching finals when I was a kid on this Wimbledon,” she said.

“You know there is no place better than here to fight for every ball and every point. I will remember this forever.”

Vekic paid the price for 57 unforced errors, with the semi-final fittingly ending on another wild forehand from the unseeded Croatian.

Unable to contain her frustration at letting 3-1 and 4-3 leads slip in the last set, Vekic broke down in tears in the closing stages of a rollercoaster clash.

“I was crying because I had so much pain. I didn’t know how I could keep playing,” Vekic said.

“I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg.”

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Lorenzo Musetti reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday with a five-set victory over Taylor Fritz, setting up a clash with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Italian 25th seed Musetti triumphed 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 against the 13th-seeded American.

Djokovic was earlier handed a free pass into a 13th Wimbledon semi-final when Alex de Minaur withdrew from their scheduled last-eight tie with a hip injury.

“I probably played my best tennis at the end today,” said Musetti.

Djokovic has a 5-1 winning record over 22-year-old Musetti, including a come-from-behind five-set victory at the French Open last month.

Lorenzo Musetti also took Novak Djokovic the distance in their first meeting at Roland Garros in 2021, when the Italian won the opening two sets of their last-16 tie before injury scuppered his hopes in the decider.

“Djokovic knows the stadiums here better than me,” said Musetti.

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“He’s a legend everywhere and has done unthinkable things. We’ve played lots of times and I expect a huge fight.

“It’s the toughest challenge in tennis but I am an ambitious guy and I like to be challenged. I will give 100 percent.”

On Wednesday, Musetti came back from dropping the first set for the third time at Wimbledon this year after Fritz broke in the fourth game.

The Italian, who plays with a one-handed backhand, levelled on a fourth set point in the second set tie-break and was dominant in the third, breaking the American in the first and fifth games.

Fritz had come back from two sets down to knock out Alexander Zverev in the last 16 but showed no sign of immediately wilting, levelling the contest in the fourth set.

However, Lorenzo Musetti was undaunted, sweeping into a 5-0 lead in the decider on his way to victory.

READ: Novak Djokovic into Wimbledon semi-finals due to Alex de Minaur injury

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday when Alex de Minaur withdrew from their last-eight clash with a hip injury.

Australian ninth seed De Minaur suffered the injury in his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils, which he later confirmed during a press conference on Wednesday.

“I am devastated to pull out due to a hip injury,” said the 25-year-old. “It’s no secret that this would have been the biggest match of my career but it’s a unique injury.”

“I woke up this morning wanting to feel some sort of miracle, but there was a high risk of making the injury worse if I stepped on the court.

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“One stretch, one slide could take this from a three to six weeks’ injury to four months out.”

Consequently, the seven-time Wimbledon champion qualified for the semi-final of the event. Novak Djokovic will be playing in his 13th Wimbledon semi-final and 49th at the Grand Slams.

He will face either Taylor Fritz of the United States or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti for a place in Sunday’s championship match.

In the second semi-final, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will be facing Daniil Medvedev on Friday.

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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off the loss of the first set to beat Tommy Paul on Tuesday and set up a repeat Wimbledon semi-final with Daniil Medvedev.

The Spanish world number three, seeking a fourth Grand Slam title, beat his 12th-seeded opponent 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 under the No. 1 Court roof.

Alcaraz was slow out of the blocks, broken twice by the in-form American in a 72-minute first set.

Paul raced into a two-game lead in the second set as Alcaraz again faltered on serve but the Spaniard got back on level terms and broke again to level the match.

Three breaks in the third set put the world number three in charge and he stepped up another gear in the fourth set, winning 92 percent of first-serve points and making just four unforced errors.

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Carlos Alcaraz, seeking to become just the sixth man to capture the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back, said it had been a tough start to his quarter-final against the recent champion at Queen’s.

“If I’m struggling a little bit to find the solutions, if the opponent is playing great tennis and I don’t get him in trouble, I believe at the end that I’ll be able to come back and be able to find solutions,” he said.

Looking forward to his match against Russian fifth-seed Daniil Medvedev, whom he beat last year on his way to winning his first Wimbledon title, Carlos Alcaraz said: “Hopefully I’m going to get the same result.

“He just won against Jannik Sinner, the best player right now, so I know that he’s in really good shape so I have to play my best, I have to believe in myself and try to keep going if I want to beat him.”

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LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz came back from the brink in a five-set thriller against close friend Frances Tiafoe at Wimbledon on Friday, winning 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 to keep his title defence on track.

The Spanish third seed was out-hit and out-fought for large periods of the match on Centre Court by his US opponent but found an extra gear when he needed to in a match lasting nearly four hours.

The two men were meeting for the first time since Alcaraz came out on top in an epic five-set match in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on the way to his first Grand Slam title.

“Always a big challenge playing against Frances,” said Alcaraz. “He is a really talented player, really tough to face and he has shown again that he deserves to be at the top and fight for big things.

“Really difficult for me to adapt my game, to find solutions to put him in trouble but really happy to do it at the end of the match.”

Carlos Alcaraz, bidding to become only the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, beat Novak Djokovic in a thrilling final last year.

He will face America’s Brandon Nakashima or 16th seed Ugo Humbert of France in the fourth round as he seeks a fourth Grand Slam title at the tender age of 21.

Tiafoe, seeded 29th, put Alcaraz’s serve under intense pressure in the opening set, carving out six break points and taking two of them to win it 7-5.

But the Spaniard slashed his error count in the second set, breaking twice to level the match under the roof on a damp day in London.

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Alcaraz fended off another clutch of break points from Tiafoe in the third set but cracked in the seventh game and the American, combining brutal power with finesse, made the crucial breakthrough, whipping up the crowd as he sealed the set.

The champion was in deep trouble at 0-30 in the ninth game of the fourth set but won four straight points to stay on serve.

An energised Alcaraz stepped up a level in the tie-break, powering his way to a 5-0 lead and cupping his ear to the crowd as he pulled level at two sets apiece.

An early break in the decider for Alcaraz emphatically underlined the change in momentum and he repeated the feat to take a 4-1 lead.

Tiafoe held serve to delay the inevitable but Alcaraz served out to love, sealing the deal with a clever drop shot before letting out a roar and raising his arms to the sky.

The three-time major winner said he had faced a lot of difficult moments in the pivotal fourth set but was just thinking about “hitting one more ball”.

“I have to tell myself to go for it,” he said. “If I lose it, I lose it but I have to feel that I want it all the time and most of the time it works on my side and that happened today again.”

Carlos Alcaraz is chasing his third trophy of the season. Last month, he triumphed at Roland Garros to become the youngest man in history to win a major on all three surfaces.

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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from an early stumble to sweep into the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, dispatching Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets.

The third seed dug deep to take the opening set against his 69th-ranked opponent before shifting impressively through the gears to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2.

From 5-2 up in the first set, the Spaniard briefly lost his way to trail 5-6.

However, with the pressure on, Alcaraz broke back to force a tie-break and from then on it was one-way traffic.

The 21-year-old broke twice in the second set and repeated the feat in set three, pounding a total of 42 winners.

Alcaraz, who beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, wrapped up victory in one hour, and 48 minutes.

Vukic defeated then-17-year-old Alcaraz in qualifying at Roland Garros in 2020 but could not repeat the feat on the grass at the All England Club.

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“I’m really happy about my performance today,” said Alcaraz. “The first set was the key for me. He served for the set, then I played a really good tie-break.

“In the second set and third set, I played a really high level so I’m really happy about it.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back.

He next faces Frances Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.

The Spaniard said he would “put on a show” against Tiafoe, ranked 29th.

“I’m going for him,” he said. “We played a really good match in the US Open.

“I know he is a really talented player, a tough one, even tougher on grass with his style. Good volley, good slices. It is going to be a very difficult match for me.

“I’m ready to take that challenge.”

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Carlos Alcaraz defeated 269th-ranked qualifier Mark Lajal at the start of his Wimbledon title defence on Monday as Andy Murray decided whether or not to call a halt to his All England Club singles career.

As action got underway, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was heading home after withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury.

Alcaraz, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

Opening the Centre Court programme, Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a breakdown in each of the first two sets to see off the dreadlocked Lajal 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 6-2.

“He played a really good match, he obviously surprised me a little bit because I didn’t have the chance to see him play a lot,” said Carlos Alcaraz.

This time last year, Lajal was losing a first-round match at a second-tier Challenger event in the United States and earning a paltry $780 — on Monday he banked $75,000.

Two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabalenka, ranked third in the world, is one of eight players to have pulled out since the draw was made.

She had admitted she was not 100 per cent fit after suffering a shoulder injury at the Berlin Open and has been replaced by Russian lucky loser Erika Andreeva.

“Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won’t be able to play The Championships this year,” wrote 26-year-old Sabalenka on X.

Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev reached the second round and admitted he was happy not to be playing on the All England Club’s famed Centre Court.

Medvedev, a semi-finalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.

“I’ve still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court,” said Medvedev.

“Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost.”

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Eighth seed Casper Ruud, who has never been past the second round, saw off Alex Bolt of Australia in straight sets and revealed he had been laid low by a parasite since reaching the French Open semi-finals.

“I was mostly in bed for 10, 11 days, which was not what I was kind of hoping for,” said the Norwegian.

Three-time Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka won his Wimbledon opener at the age of 39, beating British wild card Charles Broom 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

“I think there is enough reason to keep playing. I don’t want to go home,” said Wawrinka, who made his debut at Wimbledon in 2005.

World number one Jannik Sinner, a semi-finalist in 2023, starts against Yannick Hanfmann, the German world number 110.

The 22-year-old Sinner won a maiden Slam at the Australian Open and then deposed Djokovic as world number one, becoming the first Italian man to reach such heights.

Sinner arrives in London having captured his first grass-court title in Halle.

Andy Murray, champion in 2013 and 2016, will reveal later Monday if he will play singles at his farewell Wimbledon.

The former world number one underwent surgery to remove a cyst on his spine last week and admitted he still has not fully recovered feeling in his leg.

Murray, whose 2013 triumph ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon, is due to face Czech world number 39 Tomas Machac on Tuesday.

If he cannot make that date, he still hopes to play doubles with brother Jamie before bringing the curtain down on his Wimbledon career, which began 19 years ago.

“I’m hoping maybe for a bit of closure. I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there hopefully on Centre Court and feel that buzz,” said 37-year-old Murray.

Elsewhere on opening day, women’s second seed and US Open champion Coco Gauff takes on American compatriot Caroline Dolehide.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka tackles Diane Parry of France in her first appearance at Wimbledon since 2019.

Osaka, who only returned to the tour at the start of the season afer maternity leave, is ranked at 113 and required a wild card to play at Wimbledon.

At the recent French Open, she gave world number one Iga Swiatek a mighty scare, holding a match point in their second-round clash before the Pole prevailed.

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